Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2021)677 - EU position in the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean on Marine Litter in the Mediterranean - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2021)677 - EU position in the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean on ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2021)677  |
| date | 27-10-2021 |
1. Subject matter of the proposal
This proposal concerns the position to be taken on the Union's behalf at the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean (the ‘Barcelona Convention’) and its Protocols on a decision to adopt amendments to the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean in the framework of Article 15 of the Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources (the ‘LBS Protocol’).
2. Context of the proposal
2.1.The Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean and its Protocols
The Barcelona Convention and its seven Protocols adopted in the framework of the Mediterranean Action Plan constitute the principal regional legally binding Multilateral Environmental Agreement for the Mediterranean Sea.
The Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution from Land-Based Sources (the ‘LBS Protocol’) is one of the seven Protocols of the Barcelona Convention. It aims to take all appropriate measures to prevent, abate and eliminate to the fullest extent possible pollution of the Mediterranean Sea by dumping of waste or other matter.
The European Union is a party to the LBS Protocol (amended) 1 .
2.2.The Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols
The Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols brings together Ministers and senior officials representing all Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols. The Contracting Parties will meet between 7 and 10 December 2021 in Antalya, Turkey.
According to Article 25 of the Barcelona Convention, the European Union (the ‘EU’) shall exercise its right to vote with a number of votes equal to the number of its Member States which are Contracting Parties to this Convention and to one or more of its Protocols. The EU shall not exercise its right to vote when its Member States exercise theirs and conversely.
According to Article 15, paragraph 1, of the LBS Protocol, decisions on the adoption of action plans, programme and measures shall be made by a two-thirds majority of the Contracting Parties present and voting.
2.3.The envisaged act of the 22nd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols
At the next Ministerial meeting, the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols are to adopt a Decision adopting amendments to the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean in the framework of Article 15 of the LBS Protocol (‘the envisaged act’).
The Regional Plans will be binding on the Union in accordance with Article 15, paragraph 3 of the LBS Protocol.
3. Position to be taken on the Union's behalf
Acting on the reduction of Marine Litter is an essential element of Union legislation for the protection of marine environment, its biodiversity and its ecosystems.
In line with SGD 14 and the Naples Declaration, the envisaged act will provide new definitions and will expand the scope of measures in four key areas (economic instruments, circular economy of plastics, and land-based and sea-based sources of marine litter). As of 2025, the act also requires the adoption of prevention measures to achieve a circular economy for plastics, in particular by phasing out the consumption and production of certain single use plastic items, and by restricting the use of certain chemical additives of concern in plastic production (in line with the Stockholm Convention).
A Union position is necessary because of the legally binding effects of the envisaged proposal.
The proposal is in line with the Union’s ambition under the Green Deal to reduce pollution and improve protection of the environment. It is therefore proposed that the Union support the adoption of the envisaged act.
4. Legal basis
4.1.Procedural legal basis
4.1.1.Principles
Article 218(9) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides for decisions establishing ‘the positions to be adopted on the Union’s behalf in a body set up by an agreement, when that body is called upon to adopt acts having legal effects, with the exception of acts supplementing or amending the institutional framework of the agreement.’
The concept of ‘acts having legal effects’ includes acts that have legal effects by virtue of the rules of international law governing the body in question.
4.1.2.Application to the present case
The Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols is a body set up by an agreement, namely the Barcelona Convention.
The envisaged act will adopt amendments to the Regional Plan on Marine Litter Management in the Mediterranean, and therefore its adoption constitutes an act having legal effects.
The envisaged act does not supplement or amend the institutional framework of the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols.
Therefore, the procedural legal basis for the proposed decision is Article 218(9) TFEU.
4.2.Substantive legal basis
4.2.1.Principles
The substantive legal basis for a decision under Article 218(9) TFEU depends primarily on the objective and content of the envisaged act in respect of which a position is taken on the Union's behalf. If the envisaged act pursues two aims or has two components and if one of those aims or components is identifiable as the main one, whereas the other is merely incidental, the decision under Article 218(9) TFEU must be founded on a single substantive legal basis, namely that required by the main or predominant aim or component.
4.2.2.Application to the present case
The main objective and content of the envisaged act relate to protection of the environment.
Therefore, the substantive legal basis of the proposed decision is 192(1) TFEU.
4.3.Conclusion
The legal basis of the proposed decision should be 192(1) TFEU, in conjunction with Article 218(9) TFEU.